Petra Kelly died in bed beside an open book--"Letters from Goethe to Charlotte von Stein"--at the hand of her lover and co-founder of the German Greens Party, Gert Bastian. She was asleep when Bastian shot her in the head at point-blank range before killing himself on the stairway outside the bedroom.

I dare say there are a number of readers of the Times who know more about European history than your reviewer David Helvarg ("The Life and Death of Petra Kelly," Feb. 12). Rosa Luxemburg was not . . . "a German revolutionary leader of the 1920s. . . ." Luxemburg, born in Poland, was among the founders of the Spartacus Bund and was shot to death in Berlin, probably by German soldiers, on Jan. 16, 1919, following an abortive uprising of revolutionary socialist activists. PAUL GROPMAN, LOS ANGELES There is a deplorable factual error in the Sunday, Feb. 12 book review of "The Life and Death of Petra Kelly."

They wanted to save the world. But after devoting their lives to peace, Petra Kelly and her lover, Gert Bastian, met violent deaths, which sent shock waves Tuesday through the international movement they had ignited. Kelly, 44, was the American-raised peacenik who designed an "anti-party" political party, the Greens, in the West Germany of 1979 from a grab bag of feminist, leftist, pacifist and environmental activists.

February 12, 1995 | David Helvarg, David Helvarg is the author of "The War Against the Greens" (Sierra Club Books)

There are certain women whose combination of mediagenic good-looks, natural intelligence and passionate commitment to social change have made them both symbols and leaders of the radical movements of our times, women such as Angela Davis in the United States, Bernadette Devlin of Ireland and the Green Party's Petra Kelly.

February 12, 1995 | David Helvarg, David Helvarg is the author of "The War Against the Greens" (Sierra Club Books)

There are certain women whose combination of mediagenic good-looks, natural intelligence and passionate commitment to social change have made them both symbols and leaders of the radical movements of our times, women such as Angela Davis in the United States, Bernadette Devlin of Ireland and the Green Party's Petra Kelly.

I dare say there are a number of readers of the Times who know more about European history than your reviewer David Helvarg ("The Life and Death of Petra Kelly," Feb. 12). Rosa Luxemburg was not . . . "a German revolutionary leader of the 1920s. . . ." Luxemburg, born in Poland, was among the founders of the Spartacus Bund and was shot to death in Berlin, probably by German soldiers, on Jan. 16, 1919, following an abortive uprising of revolutionary socialist activists. PAUL GROPMAN, LOS ANGELES There is a deplorable factual error in the Sunday, Feb. 12 book review of "The Life and Death of Petra Kelly."

Greens Party founder Petra Kelly and her companion were discovered dead in their Bonn home in a case of murder, suicide or both, the investigating prosecutor said today. Neighbors alerted police after finding the bodies, with wounds indicating violent death, in the house where Kelly lived with Gert Bastian, a former West German army major general, police spokesman Markus Toelle said.

It was 1968 and in the nation's capital, after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 14th Street was ablaze. To provide a safer haven from the rioting sweeping the city, American University economics professor Elspeth Rostow invited her brightest student, Petra Kelly, over to have dinner with her husband, Walt, the President's national security adviser. Because of the rioting several miles away, Rostow invited Kelly to spend the night in their library in a makeshift bed. At 4 a.

The world's most prominent environmental party has become an endangered species after German voters locked the Greens out of the newly united nation's first Parliament. Sunday's defeat left the Greens stunned, bitter and--as ever--divided. "It's a very shocking development," lamented Petra Kelly, a party co-founder and stepdaughter of an American Army officer. "We have failed not only in political terms, but in human terms as well," she said in an interview Monday.

Eight members of the West German Greens Party occupied Bonn's embassy here today to protest apartheid. The environmentalist, anti-nuclear party said in a statement that the Greens, including party organizer Petra Kelly, would remain inside the embassy for 48 hours to protest the support of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government for the white minority government.

Petra Kelly died in bed beside an open book--"Letters from Goethe to Charlotte von Stein"--at the hand of her lover and co-founder of the German Greens Party, Gert Bastian. She was asleep when Bastian shot her in the head at point-blank range before killing himself on the stairway outside the bedroom.

They wanted to save the world. But after devoting their lives to peace, Petra Kelly and her lover, Gert Bastian, met violent deaths, which sent shock waves Tuesday through the international movement they had ignited. Kelly, 44, was the American-raised peacenik who designed an "anti-party" political party, the Greens, in the West Germany of 1979 from a grab bag of feminist, leftist, pacifist and environmental activists.

Greens Party founder Petra Kelly and her companion were discovered dead in their Bonn home in a case of murder, suicide or both, the investigating prosecutor said today. Neighbors alerted police after finding the bodies, with wounds indicating violent death, in the house where Kelly lived with Gert Bastian, a former West German army major general, police spokesman Markus Toelle said.

The world's most prominent environmental party has become an endangered species after German voters locked the Greens out of the newly united nation's first Parliament. Sunday's defeat left the Greens stunned, bitter and--as ever--divided. "It's a very shocking development," lamented Petra Kelly, a party co-founder and stepdaughter of an American Army officer. "We have failed not only in political terms, but in human terms as well," she said in an interview Monday.

It was 1968 and in the nation's capital, after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 14th Street was ablaze. To provide a safer haven from the rioting sweeping the city, American University economics professor Elspeth Rostow invited her brightest student, Petra Kelly, over to have dinner with her husband, Walt, the President's national security adviser. Because of the rioting several miles away, Rostow invited Kelly to spend the night in their library in a makeshift bed. At 4 a.

Here are some of the world figures who died in 1992: Political leader Roberto D'Aubuisson, 48, who founded El Salvador's ruling party and was accused of leading right-wing death squads, died in February of a heart attack; he had been suffering from throat cancer.

The European Community denounced South Africa's apartheid system on Tuesday, and nine of the 10 nations agreed to a package of mildly punitive measures against the South African government. Britain's opposition prevented a unanimous agreement on the package, which included a ban on oil exports, a halt to all trade that could aid the South African military and police and a ban on new agreements on nuclear cooperation, said Foreign Minister Leo Tindemans of Belgium.